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A sign (ء‏(ʾ)‎ - a stand-alone hamza) used in the writtenArabiclanguage representing a glottal stop. Hamza may appear as a stand-alone letter or most commonly over or under other letters, e.g. أ‏(ʾ)‎ (over an alif - ا‏‎), إ‏(ʾ)‎ (under an alif), ؤ‏(ʾ)‎ (over a wāw - و‏(w)‎) or ئ‏(ʾ)‎ (over a dotless yāʾ - ى‏‎). The exact seat of hamza is governed by an orthographic rule - "seat of hamza rule".